-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- English football seems to be experiencing something of a time warp . Liverpool and Arsenal jostling for top spot , Manchester United languishing in mid-table .

For 55 minutes of United 's match at bottom club Sunderland on Saturday , it appeared that the English Premier League champion 's worst start to a season in 24 years would continue .

Before kickoff , Liverpool had welcomed back 1990 's title-winning manager Kenny Dalglish to a non-executive board role by beating Crystal Palace 3-1 to regain first place -- at least until Arsenal 's trip to West Brom on Sunday .

Sunderland , still without a permanent manager to replace the sacked Paolo Di Canio , then took a shock fifth-minute lead as Craig Gardner capitalized on some inept United defending , with Nemanja Vidic inexplicably giving him the ball inside the penalty area .

For new United manager David Moyes , it raised the prospect of a third successive league defeat -- which last happened to the Red Devils 12 years ago .

But much like his predecessor Alex Ferguson 's success in introducing young talent such as David Beckham in the 1990s , Moyes was rescued by an 18-year-old making his first EPL start .

Adnan Januzaj , yet another Belgian starlet to make his mark in England 's top flight , first leveled with a cool sidefoot effort 10 minutes after halftime as he burst into the box to collect Patrice Evra 's low cross .

The midfielder , born in Brussels to Kosovar-Albanian parents and who has thus far refused all Belgium international call-ups , then volleyed a sublime left-footed winner just after the hour mark .

For Moyes , who gave United striker Wayne Rooney his debut when a 16-year-old at Everton , Januzaj has every chance of joining the club 's long line of top stars .

`` I remember giving Wayne his debut and Adnan is certainly that quality . He 's a top , top player , '' the Scot said after the match .

`` I would have played him two or three weeks ago but it did n't work . We just never quite got the opportunity for different reasons , and I thought today was the right time and it was hard to stop him .

`` He 's going to be a special talent and he showed he 's got goals and ability . We will keep his feet on the ground . ''

The result left United in ninth place , six points behind the club 's bitter rival Liverpool .

For the Anfield Reds , this is the team 's best start to a season since the advent of the EPL in 1992 , with five wins from seven games .

Dalglish 's second stint as manager -- his first was the last time Liverpool won the title -- ended with the sack 17 months ago in the wake of mixed results and Luis Suarez 's eight-match ban for racially abusing Evra .

Brendan Rodgers struggled in his first season as the club legend 's replacement , not helped by Suarez 's 10-match ban for biting Chelsea 's Branislav Ivanovic .

That suspension spilled over into this season , but the Uruguayan 's subsequent return has not hindered Liverpool 's impressive start to the campaign -- indeed he has come back with a bang , adding another goal to last weekend 's double against Sunderland .

His partnership with Daniel Sturridge continues to blossom , with the young England forward making it 2-0 against Palace with his sixth in the league and eighth overall .

`` The two boys up front are as good as any in the league , so you know you 're always going to be in with a chance with them two , '' Rodgers said .

Veteran Steve Gerrard celebrated his 639th appearance for Liverpool -- putting him seventh on the club 's all-time list -- with his 99th EPL goal , netting from the penalty spot before halftime .

Palace boss Ian Holloway was aggrieved by that decision , with Dean Moxey 's tug on Raheem Sterling appearing to be on the edge of the area , but had the small consolation of seeing his second-bottom side edge the second half thanks to a late header by record signing Dwight Gayle .

Manchester City bounced back from the midweek Champions League lesson against Bayern Munich by moving up to third place with victory by the same 3-1 scoreline against Everton .

On-loan Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku gave the home fans a sense of dÃ © jÃ vu as he put Everton ahead , with England goalkeeper Joe Hart again in question -- as he had twice been against European champion Bayern .

But Spain striker Alvaro Negredo leveled and Sergio Aguero made it 2-1 on halftime , before the Argentine 's 69th-minute penalty hit the post and cruelly bounced into the net off the head of goalkeeper Tim Howard .

Aston Villa beat City last weekend , but this time could only draw 0-0 at promoted Hull in a result that left both sides comfortably mid-table .

Fulham moved out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win at Stoke thanks to a second-half goal from former Villa striker Darren Bent , who came on to replace the injured Dimitar Berbatov .

Newcastle joined Villa and Manchester United on 10 points after winning 2-1 at promoted Cardiff , with both goals from on-loan French striker Loic Remy .

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Adnan Januzaj helps Manchester United come from behind at Sunderland

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Teenager scores both goals in first EPL start , which ends in a 2-1 victory

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Champion United six points behind leader Liverpool , which also wins

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Manchester City rebounds from two defeats with 3-1 victory over Everton